THE INSIDER AUTHORITY ON GATOR SPORTS

Sacre blue! What to wear Saturday?

Buddy Martin comes at you several times a week now with his new blog, “The Martin Chronicles.” Lots of opinions, some inside info and hopefully a few laughs along the way. Buddy wants you to fire back at him, so go for it!

You can tell for sure it’s Tennessee-Florida Week.

Talk radio has been ratcheted up four notches on the Nasty Meter.

The song “Rocky Top” has been banned anywhere south of the Florida-Georgia or Florida-Alabama state lines.

And Gator fans are arguing among themselves whether to don their blue togs for the big “Blue Out.”

Ah, who needs football when we can debate fashion?

You didn’t get the memo Gator fans? Your coach flashed the secret Gatorhead insignia in the sky, calling for “Blue Out” Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. No kidding.

Urban Meyer said on his weekly TV show that he wants to ditch the orange for a week, presumably because it’s the favorite flavor of Peyton’s Place.

Let Tennessee have its orange for a week, then, right? Not so fast, say some of the bloggers. For six pages the GatorCountry.com message boards were lit up, with the merit of the “Blue Out” questioned and then defended.

Do you suppose they are having this argument in Tuscaloosa about Crimson and White, or in Baton Rouge a bout Purple and Gold?

It took gatorpr to bring this discussion back to reality with this post:

This thread should go to best of the best forum. To me it makes everything else around here make sense. If we can’t all get along with regards to such a stupid little topic, how did I ever expect us to agree on other topics such as: should K Jackson start, is our secondary bad? why did we keep the starters in for so long in the 2nd half, etc.

You see, gatorpr, that’s it, exactly. Urban Meyer has not only confused the fans, but also confused the enemy. It’s part of the strategy for beating Tennessee. Besides, who wants to tick off the head coach? Thus the color of this blog.

I am also thinking of watching “Blues Clues” with my granddaughter before leaving for The Swamp, where I will gnosh on blueberries while swilling down a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (do they still make that stuff?) and maybe later singing the blues, or humming a few bars of “Blue Bayou.” And maybe the State Legislature will play along by passing a bill making Florida a Blue State for a day.

Quick Jump Starts

With Percy Harvin slowed and Bubba Caldwell out, it’s time to see if David Nelson and Jarred Fayson can do what Cornelius Ingram and Louis Murphy did against Troy and what Riley Cooper did to Western Kentucky.

Memo to the SEC: As the slogan in Columbia says, “Fear The Spur.” Steve Spurrier told us this summer his South Carolina team was going to make a run for the SEC East. Believe him now?

He had a few hiccups on his ESPN’s College Football Live Monday night with Rece Davis, but I agree with Jesse Palmer about the Big East and PAC 10 rivaling the SEC for superiority so far – and I think Jesse might make it as a studio host.

“T” is for Tennessee, but “TT” is for Tim Tebow, who according to his Urban Meyer, was raised in a Gator family and can school his own coach on UF football history. “For me to sit there and explain to Tim how big this game is … he’s looking at me like I’m nuts,” said Meyer.

Prediction: Tebow will rush for 100 yards against Tennessee, Brandon James will break off a long run and Derrick Harvey will sack Vols’ Erik Ainge twice.

Upon Further Review

Given last week’s uninspiring second half performance, maybe Urban Meyer should ask for volunteers to give the halftime speech. My nominations are Lawrence Wright, whose crunching tackle on Joey Kent put the skids on the Vols; Jimmy Buffett, the devout Gator fan who could sing the pep talk to the tune of “Margaritaville”; and Shelley Meyer, who could probably fire them up more than her husband did. Your choices? Post ‘em here!

(Watch this space for your chance to win an autographed copy of Buddy Martin’s revised championship edition of “The Boys From Old Florida,” which will be released next week. To order your personalized autographed copy, log on to buddymartin.org.)

Buddy Martin comes at you several times a week now with his new blog, “The Martin Chronicles.” Lots of opinions, some inside info and hopefully a few laughs along the way. Buddy wants you to fire back at him, so go for it!

You can tell for sure it’s Tennessee-Florida Week.

Talk radio has been ratcheted up four notches on the Nasty Meter.

The song “Rocky Top” has been banned anywhere south of the Florida-Georgia or Florida-Alabama state lines.

And Gator fans are arguing among themselves whether to don their blue togs for the big “Blue Out.”

Ah, who needs football when we can debate fashion?

You didn’t get the memo Gator fans? Your coach flashed the secret Gatorhead insignia in the sky, calling for “Blue Out” Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. No kidding.

Urban Meyer said on his weekly TV show that he wants to ditch the orange for a week, presumably because it’s the favorite flavor of Peyton’s Place.

Let Tennessee have its orange for a week, then, right? Not so fast, say some of the bloggers. For six pages the GatorCountry.com message boards were lit up, with the merit of the “Blue Out” questioned and then defended.

Do you suppose they are having this argument in Tuscaloosa about Crimson and White, or in Baton Rouge a bout Purple and Gold?

It took gatorpr to bring this discussion back to reality with this post:

This thread should go to best of the best forum. To me it makes everything else around here make sense. If we can’t all get along with regards to such a stupid little topic, how did I ever expect us to agree on other topics such as: should K Jackson start, is our secondary bad? why did we keep the starters in for so long in the 2nd half, etc.

You see, gatorpr, that’s it, exactly. Urban Meyer has not only confused the fans, but also confused the enemy. It’s part of the strategy for beating Tennessee. Besides, who wants to tick off the head coach? Thus the color of this blog.

I am also thinking of watching “Blues Clues” with my granddaughter before leaving for The Swamp, where I will gnosh on blueberries while swilling down a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (do they still make that stuff?) and maybe later singing the blues, or humming a few bars of “Blue Bayou.” And maybe the State Legislature will play along by passing a bill making Florida a Blue State for a day.

Quick Jump Starts

With Percy Harvin slowed and Bubba Caldwell out, it’s time to see if David Nelson and Jarred Fayson can do what Cornelius Ingram and Louis Murphy did against Troy and what Riley Cooper did to Western Kentucky.

Memo to the SEC: As the slogan in Columbia says, “Fear The Spur.” Steve Spurrier told us this summer his South Carolina team was going to make a run for the SEC East. Believe him now?

He had a few hiccups on his ESPN’s College Football Live Monday night with Rece Davis, but I agree with Jesse Palmer about the Big East and PAC 10 rivaling the SEC for superiority so far – and I think Jesse might make it as a studio host.

“T” is for Tennessee, but “TT” is for Tim Tebow, who according to his Urban Meyer, was raised in a Gator family and can school his own coach on UF football history. “For me to sit there and explain to Tim how big this game is … he’s looking at me like I’m nuts,” said Meyer.

Prediction: Tebow will rush for 100 yards against Tennessee, Brandon James will break off a long run and Derrick Harvey will sack Vols’ Erik Ainge twice.

Upon Further Review

Given last week’s uninspiring second half performance, maybe Urban Meyer should ask for volunteers to give the halftime speech. My nominations are Lawrence Wright, whose crunching tackle on Joey Kent put the skids on the Vols; Jimmy Buffett, the devout Gator fan who could sing the pep talk to the tune of “Margaritaville”; and Shelley Meyer, who could probably fire them up more than her husband did. Your choices? Post ‘em here!

(Watch this space for your chance to win an autographed copy of Buddy Martin’s revised championship edition of “The Boys From Old Florida,” which will be released next week. To order your personalized autographed copy, log on to buddymartin.org.)